Space Hulk: Just Keep it Simple...

I posted in May an article reference our approach to the way we play Space Hulk (going back to the beginning) and the affect of slight rule changes to missions that were created before we made them. 

I mentioned not being able to complete a mission that we were able to when that mission was created but neglected to say what the exact changes were.  Turns out, it was actually a single change that made everything go to crap.  That rule change was to give the Genestealer player D3 command points.  What an impact that turned out to be!

Enabling the GS player to have up to 3 command points per turn meant that the Marine player could no longer just count squares to see how far a particular bug could go and still be safe.  Yes, that is part of the strategy when playing normal Space Hulk which we refer to as "gaming" the game.  We wanted to add a bit more uncertainty (and stress) for the Marine player and limit the ability to "game" the game. 

We decided to go back and play our custom 5 mission campaign using the new GS mechanic.  As mentioned in May, neither of us could complete the first mission.  The mission is difficult as is using our normal rules so we decided to play the second mission with the new mechanic.

We played the second mission yesterday.  Ron started as the Marine player.  The game started out as expected with him moving smartly down the corridor towards the objective.  Ron is an extremely smart player and positions his models in such a way as to provide maximum support to all models in his squad.  But the addition of CP's for me meant he couldn't know if my bugs could make an additional move or not or react to his moves.  That ability for the bugs eventually resulted in a near wipe out of his squad.

Mission 2: Activate the Reactor

Looks ok so far

Things start to fall apart from here.

So we decided to play it again without bug command points.  We haven't played this campaign since we finished it over a year ago so the tricks to winning it were not fresh in our minds.  As I said above, Ron is a very good player and easily won this mission without losing a single Marine.  So the GS command points was a definite game changer and completely unbalances the game for us.  So that mechanic was ejected.

We normally end our gaming sessions debating keeping or eliminating a certain mechanic, discussion of adding a type of model (i.e. the Lictor), etc.   What we discussed this time was....

We always go back to the simple game.  We have been playing regularly now for over 3 years and during that time, we've tried out different mechanics in the game in an attempt to mix it up and keep the game from getting stale (sort of).  We've played using Harlequins in the place of bugs, hybrids with shooting abilities (ugh), put ambush counters on the board, tunnels, duct work, Librarian, Magus, Missile Launcher dude, etc.  And at the end of the day (yesterday to be exact) and using our core home rule set, we realized that it is our basic, simple 5 Marine squad vs. straight up bugs that is the most fun.  All the other things I mentioned above added either too much complexity or completely threw the game out of whack.

The great thing about our games is we are not afraid to try new things to enhance our enjoyment of this already awesome game. 

Space Hulk: Going Back to the Beginning

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Image by NIKOLAUS INGENERI

We decided to go back and replay our custom campaign using the rules we created or modified during our play since we started years ago.

Where It Started

I started playing Space Hulk at my FLGS with my friend, Ron, in the fall of 2014.  Ron and I had played normal games of 40k on and off for quite some time before that.  We tended to favor games involving low numbers of models that were fast vs. the cumbersome high point games that took hours to play (and a long time to set up and tear down).  So the Space Hulk setting, ease of play and the use of a handful of models was an instant win for me (4th edition was my first introduction to the game while Ron had played earlier versions).  After a few games, I bought the boxed set for Christmas and since that purchase, I can count on 1 hand how many times I have played an actual game of 40k as I have almost exclusively played Space Hulk since then.

Our First Campaign

After playing a random games either from the 4th edition mission book or from other sources, we decided to play the 16 missions from start to end and keep track of the results of each mission.  Each of us would play each mission as the Space Marine player and as the Genestealer player and record the number of Marines and Genestealers killed and keep a running total over the whole campaign.

Mission results from Games Workshop Space Hulk 4th Edition. (pdf version)

The effort took us nearly a year to complete and Ron cleaned my clock in total wins.  After our sessions, my family just stopped asking who won!  But it was great fun win or lose.

What Came Next

Somewhere during this, we started questioning some of the rules as written.  So our game sessions began to include not just playing the mission at hand but discussions over does this rule make sense or not.  A lot of the changes were born out of trying to make what we felt was a more balanced game or something we thought made more sense than as written.  The goal for our games is to create a certain level of stress (in a good way), mainly for the Marine player and eliminate (mostly) the ability to "game the system" from which there is a definite winning outcome each time it is played.  After a couple of years of doing this, our rules set is pretty tight.  Since they have evolved over time, we decided to start over with our custom campaign using our current rules and see how they play out.  Each mission we have created has been play tested over and over by us before it gets the final "stamp of approval" and we know each mission is winnable by the Marine player.  But the mission designs, especially the first few, didn't have our rule changes in mind when they were created.  So....

A Pretty Big Difference

So we played mission 1 yesterday and discovered that our current rules do make a difference.  Neither of us playing the Marines made it to the objective but we do think it is still winnable so we are going to give it another go here in the near future.  The games were definitely fun so we didn't lose that (the most important part) as far we are concerned.  Here are some photos from our game (I play Salamanders and Ron plays Deathwing).

Mission 1 - Deploy the Probe

Clearing a choke point

Everything goes to crap from here.  Don't think we're going to make it boys!

Ron's Deathwing at the same choke point.

• My write up on mission creation can be found here.
• Ron posted an excellent article on the mechanics behind our rule changes here.

Space Hulk: Introducing Customization to the Game

Making the game a bit more personal

From the beginning of our Space Hulk adventures, we introduced customization into our games.  Everything from the armies we used, creating house rules, bases they stand on and the extra details we put on our models indicating distinguished accomplishments, honoring the other player’s army or taunting it.  My friend (Ron) has always had an affinity for the Deathwing so a beautiful Deathwing squad and placed them on square, recessed bases.  The recesses were filled with a cutout from a knitting grid that, when painted, resembled grating.  I was fortunate enough to pick up 5 Salamander Terminators at a swap meet for a measly 5 bucks! I re-painted them and, using Ron’s method, placed them on square bases as well.  While the miniatures that come with the boxed set are certainly amazing, having the army that you want to play with makes for, what I feel anyway, a bit more ownership in the game.  

Adding a bit of "flavor" after extraordinary play

For about a half year after the 4^th edition of Space Hulk was released, Ron and I would get together and play a few missions randomly selected from the accompanying mission book.  Then in July of 2015 we decided to play all 16 missions in order and record each player’s results to include the ratio of bugs killed against Space Marines killed in each mission.  The campaign lasted over a year and was greatly entertaining.  Full disclosure, Ron won the majority of the missions with an excellent kill ratio.  During this campaign, there were several awesome moments where a Space Marine would do something extraordinarily amazing.  We used these events to give a boost to that model for future play.  These were:

• Ron had a mission where a Space Marine (who he named Carl) armed with a Storm Bolter and Power Fist stood on overwatch and managed to mow down an inordinate amount of bugs while never jamming.  And I mean I threw a ton of bugs at him and not one set of doubles was rolled.  So we decided that Carl should get a special ability that he never jams.   
• On a separate mission, my Space Marine armed with a chainfist (named Fred) went toe to toe with a conga line of bugs and defeated every single one of them in hand to hand combat.  After raising a glass to his accomplishments, Fred was bestowed with a +1 bonus in close combat. 

 

Fred - +1 in Close Combat

We mutually decided that we should limit these bonuses to just these two models and haven’t looked back.  Yes they can be game changers in critical moments but not in a way that makes the game unbalanced.  It adds for a bit of extra strategizing when each of us is playing the bug side. When playing the Space Marine side, we need to strategize where Carl or Fred are in the formation in order to maximize their bonuses. 

Examples of customizations we have done

This post isn’t going to cover the rule changes we use since that is covered elsewhere so I will finish with the visual customizations we have introduced to the game.  These are:

• Model modification – specifically the assault cannon.  The cannon that come with the GW released model doesn’t really lend itself to being an overpowering weapon.  So cutting the barrels off and replacing them with longer ones makes for a more impressive weapon.  

 

Assault Cannon ala Predator!

• Honor markings – Ron uses feathers to designate certain honorifics on his models.  I use dragon (salamander) teeth on braids.  All are fashioned from green stuff.

Feather for Deathwing

Braid and tooth for Salamander

• Tokens and templates.  The bug tokens have been replaced with wooden tokens bought at a local hobby store.  These are painted black and numbered (by hand) on one side and artwork placed on the other side.  These are more durable and just “feel” right when moving them around the board.  Flamer templates have been replaced with templates that follow our rule modifications and look and feel like a blast of flame has engulfed an area. 

Bug blips (Ron)

Flamer templates

I think that about covers it.  We do create extras like barriers, consoles and other stuff but I think the above hits the main customization that has been introduced into our playing the game of Space Hulk.  I personally feel that these easy modifications add that much more to the enjoyment of the game and really give me an ownership feel in it.